Florida HSR gets a extra week to decide fate

All,
orlandosentinel.com/news/local/os-high-speed-rail-what-now-20110225,0,7534383.story

OrlandoSentinel.com

LaHood gives Florida another week for high-speed rail

By Dan Tracy and Mark K. Matthews, Orlando Sentinel
5:19 PM EST, February 25, 2011
[...]
The high-speed train between Orlando and Tampa got an unexpected one-week reprieve Friday, just hours after Gov. Rick Scott again rejected $2.4 billion in federal money for the project.
The sudden shift may have been triggered by a possible lawsuit against Scott contending he has overstepped his authority by killing the train. The suit, which could be filed as soon as Monday, is expected to argue that a law passed by the Legislature during a special session in 2009 compels Scott to pursue the train.
Two sources close to the situation said the suit likely would be filed with the state Supreme Court in Tallahassee. It was unclear who would sign on to it.
U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., first approached U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood about an extension Thursday. An aide to Nelson said the senator was acting on behalf of "a member of the Legislature who is part of a group that is considering suing the governor."
In Washington, LaHood said in a statement Friday that he had "decided to give Gov. Scott additional time to review the agreement crafted by local officials from Orlando, Tampa, Lakeland and Miami, and to consult with his staff at the state Department of Transportation."
[...]
We encourage you to further research this story by going directly to the Orlando Sentinel website.
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ARTIC updates FB page Station Renderings

All,
We noticed on the ARTIC Facebook page (and not the main website) has been updated with additional renderings of the station.
http://www.facebook.com/pages/ARTIC/116651157092

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DesertXpress NOW needs Fed. Tax $$$ to build.

All,
As reported from the Las Vegas Sun on Monday, (Feb 21) Desert Xpress is now going after tax dollars to assist with it's project.
[...]

By Richard N. Velotta (contact)

Monday, Feb. 21, 2011 | 2 a.m.
Ever since plans to build a high-speed train from Las Vegas to Victorville, Calif., were unveiled, developers have been adamant about one point — they wouldn’t ask taxpayers to fund it.

But DesertXpress Enterprises has no qualms about borrowing from taxpayers — and borrowing big — for a project that skeptics say has little chance of gaining the ridership needed to pay for it.

The company has applied for a $4.9 billion loan through a federal program to construct what is billed as a $6 billion project. Since the plan was presented nearly two years ago, the cost estimate has ballooned from $4 billion
http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2011/feb/21/desert-xpress-going-after-tax-dollars-after-all/

But way back in 2007 DesertXpress said that they didnt need any money.

[...]
The Hill reporter Manu Raju (09/18/07)
“We have to do this without public dollars because the public dollars are not there to build it,” said Tom Stone, president of DesertXpress. “Our view is we don’t need [federal funding], and we don’t want it."
http://img.thehill.com/homenews/news/13038-debate-intensifies-over-nevada-rail-projects

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Black Friday for Florida HSR?

All,
This Friday, (Feb. 25) Florida, the rest of the U.S. and private companies who were willing to bid on both partial and full amounts of securing High Speed Rail, will know if the project is alive or dead on the tracks.


U.S. House Transportation Committee Chairman John Mica has proposed the following new HSR format:
[...]
• The initial operating segment would consist of 21 miles.
• The sub-grantees would consist of Orange, Osceola and the City of Orlando.
• The inter-local agreement would be crafted with these three initial participants, with the potential for additional future partners.
• The federal government would provide financial support for construction of the first segment, up to an agreed upon funding amount.
• The inter-local parties would solicit private sector proposals to finance, design, construct, operate, and maintain the project.• All parties would agree to proceed only if the project is financially viable and they had unanimous consent regarding the terms of ownership, development and operation of the project.


http://transportation.house.gov/News/PRArticle.aspx?NewsID=1126 


However, 
Its been reported by Orlando Sentinel that this project still needs Florida Gov. Rick Scott approval.  
[...]
But even if the cities were able to come together, federal and city officials said they still would need Scott's approval because the state owns the train's right-of-way, and any project of this magnitude would require assistance from the Florida DOT.
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/politics/os-high-speed-rail-talks-20110221,0,2658301.story


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Las Vegas Mayoral candidate Tim Gamble supports MAGLEV

All,


The Las Vegas Weekly Newspaper has released the Mayoral Candidates and one actually made the CA/NV Maglev project some ink.
http://www.lasvegasweekly.com/news/2011/feb/17/mayoral-candidate-clown-car/


Tim Gamble.
3. Support the Maglev project that would stretch between Las Vegas and Disneyland. “There is no reason why Las Vegas should not be home to the first Maglev in the country.” 


The Las Vegas Mayoral primarys are on April 5.


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NEW updates from OCTA for ARTIC project

All,
OCTA's website has been updated with new board presentations from February 14.


There are 3 presentations, the one that appears to give all the information is the (M2 project T Funding guidelines.)
http://www.octa.net/M2ProjectLibrary.aspx?EntryId=343


It appears that this was an update if project T can actually have funds to support moving the Amtrak/Metrolink station to the East.


http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2011/01/transit-committee-backs-mega-station-in-anaheim-amid-questions-about-funding-and-high-speed-rail.html


There is also an 8 page updated powerpoint from the above OCTA link with the history of the project and what are the "next steps" for ARTIC.

• Continue to secure contractor for Station shell.  (contract awarded summer 2011)
• Finalize lease of land in Anaheim and OCTA
• Final environmental

If you want a interesting read click on the OCTA link and select (PB/HOK Phase One Proposal Response...16MB) you will get a chance to see how far this project has come since 2009.


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New (kind of) videos from CA/NV Maglev team

All,


We noticed these new "recently posted" videos on the youtube site from the CA/NV Maglev team.  These are partially new videos as they have updated quotes from President Obama within the video.







and 







Enjoy,


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Florida HSR cancelled!??! (Maybe, not yet)

All,


We received an email from a fan who lives in the Central Florida area and within the email he said that "if you were working for the media (radio, TV, print) this evening, you were talking about the cancelation of Florida HSR from  Governor Scott."


Well it seems like when the darkest cloud is overhead their might just be a silver lining out there after all.


Orlando Sentinel is reporting this evening the following link and two very interesting quotes...
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/politics/os-scott-rejects-rail-money-20110216,0,1767319,print.story


[...]
U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood intends to meet either in person or by phone Friday with Florida elected officials, likely including Democratic U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson and Reps. John Mica, R-Winter Park, and Corrine Brown, D-Jacksonville, to discuss ways of keeping the project alive even as California, New York and Washington state offered to take some of the money.


and
[...]
Nelson said he talked Wednesday with LaHood about pursuing a plan that would create another Florida entity that could serve as proxy to accept the federal money, rather than the state. This might involve a team of cities such as Orlando, Lakeland and Tampa, maybe even with private partners.




We wish good luck to the Florida HSR team... if there are any updates you can find them directly from the source..
http://www.floridahighspeedrail.org/




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Maglev Movie Sunday

All,


Here are (2) videos that we have come across.


Hyperspeed: Risk of Maglev Speeds
http://videos.howstuffworks.com/discovery/35709-hyperspeed-risk-of-maglev-speeds-video.htm


There are some unusual shots that are typically never seen in other videos including a great shot of underneath the switch track.  The video talks about going fast and how as we achieve these speeds in increases the need for safety.  It also has shots from the Maglev accident in Lathen when a service vehicle (a small diesel truck like vehicle on rubber wheels that drives on top of the track) was still on the track and due to human error did kill some coworkers and test riders. 

The next video is from 2009 and is on the return trip coming from the airport. Very rare.
Its still amazing that after 3:14 minutes the maglev has reached top speed!





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President Obama & Vice President Biden announces additional HSR funds!

All,

Today President Obama announced a proposed additional $53B over the next 6 years for HSR.

You can read the announcement here...


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Mention of Maglev & DX in Vegas Paper

All,


On Feb. 6 a Las Vegas based newspaper article discussed different future construction jobs that are a "wish list" based upon Regional Transportation Commission general manager Jacob Snow.


The article (which we wont quote) mentions that if Commissioner Snow were to have his list of transit construction projects funded as of today, Nevada would be able to employ around 90k workers.  However, these jobs would be a total cost of $10B!


About half way down the article it also discussed the options of possible Maglev & DX construction.


You can find the article by googling (las vegas + road warrior + maglev)


[Editors Op] 
Commissioner Snow... you can get the Maglev project started TODAY by assisting with approving the $45 million that was legally set aside for this project that is still being held by the FRA.  Dont forget once this project has legs, the Chinese Export Import Bank has offered a loan (LOAN) for the ENTIRE (222 miles) project and not one cent will be collected until the first fare.  This ONE PROJECT is estimated to employ 90k workers. The (Anaheim) ARTIC station project will be built with or without the Maglev project!  Its up to you and the City of Las Vegas to assist with bringing in and sending tourist dollars to both states!



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